


Easy

by little_abyss



Series: Sadness Appreciation Society Works [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: Circle of Magi, Hurt No Comfort, Lyrium Addiction, M/M, Mages and Templars, Pining, Possibly Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 02:51:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11819700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_abyss/pseuds/little_abyss
Summary: Written for the Sadness Appreciation Society Weekly Prompt:On the subject of watching someone you love with someone elsein five hundred words or less.





	Easy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tsurai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsurai/gifts).



> This is the first week's prompt challenge for the [Sadness Appreciation Society](https://discord.gg/janD86G)! Thanks for getting behind this idea, my beautiful sad friends - and in particular, for tsurai, who is and will always be, my favourite First Enchanter.

Nothing is easier than this.   _Just keep your chin up, wait for ‘em to go by.  Concentrate,_ Samson tells himself.  He lifts his gaze as well, staring at the red stone in front of him, and in that moment, the First Enchanter slips by.  He's talking, the low sound of his voice murmuring something about ... _arcane properties of several different elemental forces..._ as he walks close enough that Samson blinks.  The young human he’s with laughs… and Maker, that laughter, it makes Samson’s blood boil, makes his head turn without his permission, and he sees the young woman put her hand on his elbow, on _Orsino’s_ elbow, and Orsino looks at her and smiles.

 

He knows what this is.  Unwanted.  Stupid.   _Forbidden_.  

 

But he knows too that he’s admired the First Enchanter for a while; not just the way he looks, though that is enough to give him pause. It’s in the sound of his voice when he talks to a terrified apprentice; it’s in the set of his shoulders when he squares up against the Knight-Commander.  Samson knows the sound of his footfall on the stone, the look of every expression which crosses his face.  Each expression is careful, meticulously so -- enough to show the person looking what they expect to see and only that.  Contrition; sympathy; submission.  But there’s more, much more -- hidden, just under the surface.  If only Samson could reach out…

 

But it couldn’t be easier; just ignore it, and it’ll go away.  Love isn’t allowed in a Circle; like so many other things, it’s dangerous here, more dangerous than it is in the real world.  Samson knows it.  And if Orsino can find a little comfort with someone… then hasn’t he a right to?  He’s seen mages burn for love, willingly go to the Tranquil because of the lack of it.  Orsino’s not stupid -- he knows the limits they work under.  But she put her hand on his elbow as if it was nothing; the thought of it still rankles, and Samson doesn’t know anything that could be easier than this -- crushing the feeling in his chest, pushing aside the thoughts which curdle in his mind, the images with teeth.  It doesn’t matter anyway.  Samson isn’t one to take what’s not offered, and he’s never been one to want in halves.  If, by some miracle, Orsino wanted him… if by some miracle, they could be together…

  
Forbidden, he reminds himself again, and turns his mind instead to the thoughts of the blue which awaits him after this post is done.   _That’s_ easy; _that’s_ true love.  Unconditional, numbing, something which takes all the edges off.  Easy.  Laughter echoes down the corridor again, and Samson lifts his chin, narrows his eyes, and waits.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Miles of Jagged Lines](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11827272) by [tsurai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsurai/pseuds/tsurai)




End file.
